Page 79 - Train to Pakistan

could not square a massacre with a philosophical belief in the inevitability of
death. It bewildered and frightened him by its violence and its magnitude. The

picture of his aunt biting her tongue and bleeding at the mouth, her eyes staring
at space, came back to him in all its vivid horror. Whisky did not help to take it
away.

The room was lit by the headlights of the car and then left darker than before;
the car had probably been put into the garage. Hukum Chand grew conscious of
the coming night. The servants would soon be retiring to their quarters to sleep

snugly surrounded by their women and children. He would be left alone in the
bungalow with its empty rooms peopled by phantoms of his own creation. No!
No! He must get the orderlies to sleep somewhere nearby. On the veranda

perhaps? Or would they suspect he was scared? He would tell them that he might
be wanted during the night and must have them at hand; that would pass
unnoticed.

‘Bairah.’
‘Sahib.’ The bearer came in through the wire-gauze door.
‘Where have you put my charpai for the night?’

‘Sahib’s bed has not been laid yet. It is clouded and there might be rain.
Would Huzoor like to sleep on the veranda?’
‘No, I will stay in my room. The boy can pull the punkah for an hour or two

till it gets cool. Tell the orderlies to sleep on the veranda. I may want them for
urgent work tonight,’ he added, without looking up at the man.
‘Yes, Sahib. I will tell them straightaway before they go to bed. Should I bring

the Sahib’s dinner?’
Hukum Chand had forgotten about dinner.
‘No, I do not want any dinner. Just tell the orderlies to put their beds on the

veranda. Tell the driver to be there too. If there is not enough space on the
veranda, tell him to sleep in the next room.’
The bearer went out. Hukum Chand felt relieved. He had saved face. He could

sleep peacefully with all these people about him. He listened to the reassuring
sounds of human activity—the servants arguing about places on the veranda,

beds being laid just outside his door, a lamp being brought in the next room, and
furniture being moved to make place for charpais.